


A Bright Horizon

by SnakeCharmer13



Category: Smallville
Genre: Aftercare, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Male-Female Friendship, No Sex, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Semi Consensual, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:40:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25060282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnakeCharmer13/pseuds/SnakeCharmer13
Summary: Set during season 3 after "Truth" but before the final.ONESHOT: Chloe is feeling guilty about all the terrible things she's recently done.  Clark is there to help release that guilt.  Written as a Chlark friendship, but could be read as pre-relationship.WARNING: Spanking/discipline fic.  Don't like don't read.
Relationships: Clark Kent & Chloe Sullivan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	A Bright Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't ask me why I wrote this. I'm not really sure myself. I attempted to keep everyone in character, but Clark probably came out a bit OCC. Oh well, at least no one paid to read this. In fact this show is so ancient probably no one will read this anyways.

Clark and Chloe’s friendship had gotten extremely rocky the past year. Full blame can’t necessarily be placed on either of them, as they have both made some pretty terrible decisions that almost ended their friendship on multiple occasions. If Clark was truly honest with himself, he’d say that it started long before last year ended. It started the night of their Spring Formal dance freshman year, when he left Chloe in the gym to save Lana. Chloe had told him the next day that she understood his reasons for leaving her and that she wasn’t upset with him. But in hindsight, Clark now knew that she hadn’t been truthful.

  
Since the first day Clark had met Chloe way back in eighth grade, he had been forced to lie to her about his secret. But as far as he knew, that one conversation they had shared the day after the tornados was the first time she had lied to him. He could not blame her for being angry with him. He had done the exact thing she feared that he would do. Yes, some might say it was a dick move, but even to this day Clark would never go back in time to change his decision. He had probably saved Lana’s life that day. Which brought Lana into the equation. Lana was the last person either of them would blame for their less than stable friendship. But the honest to goodness truth of the matter is that by no fault of her own, Lana was a key factor behind the decay. It's always been a poorly kept secret that Chloe was head over heels in love with Clark Kent; but the feelings had never been reciprocated because Clark has always been head over heels in love with Lana Lang. 

  
Despite Clark having broken Chloe’s heart the night of the Spring Formal, they had managed to keep a steady friendship for most of last year. It began to strain towards the end of the year, and then the Lana-Clark-Chloe love triangle started to become too hard for the young reporter. After one too many arguments it appeared that their friendship was over. For two painful weeks, the two once best friends barely spoke and forced conversations were quite heated. 

  
Just when things seemed to be turning a corner, and a bright horizon showed the possibility of their friendship surviving, a two sided bomb went off in Clarks life. One side of it, was a dream come true for the Kansas Farmboy. Lana had finally accepted a relationship status, but neither had the heart to tell Chloe about it. Then the other side of it, was his bastard of a father (his biological), decided to intervene with his life and ruin everything. His time in Metropolis while on Red Kryptonite only did more to damage his relationship with Chloe. When he finally came back to Smallville, Clark was doubtful it would ever be restored. But the ever looming horizon began to show again. Chloe had chosen to forgive him of his trespasses, and things seemed back on track.

  
But like a recurring theme, just when Clark begins to think that his friendship with Chloe had finally survived the storm that had been raging for over a year, another bomb goes off. Except this time it wasn’t Clark’s mistake, it was Chloe…

  
Clark still had a hard time believing that Chloe would betray him this way. That he actually accepted a deal with Lionel Luthor to investigate him. The realization had hurt so much that he almost couldn’t forgive her. But in the end, Clark had realized that Chloe had forgiven him when he had hurt her. It was only fair to give her a second chance. Once again things were back on track, the looming horizon was peeking again. Until Chloe once again gets herself into trouble by inhaling some truth gas, and almost exposing his secret to Lionel. Clark can’t deny his disappointment in Chloe’s behavior during that incident, but chose to believe that it was the gas and she hadn’t been herself. He didn’t think their fragile friendship could handle another forgiveness, so he chose not to hold this incident against her.

  
Once again, Clark waited to see that horizon start peeking out again. But it didn’t happen this time. For reasons completely beyond Clark’s understanding Chloe stopped pursuing the restoration of their friendship. The moment he stepped into the Torch office, she’s coming up with some excuse to leave, then high tails it out of the room before he had a chance to say a word to her. If she saw him approaching her in the hallway, she would turn around and walk the other way. Sometimes even duck into the girl’s bathroom if it was nearby.

  
Chloe had never been very good at hiding secrets; one of the main reasons Clark knew he could never confide his own secret to her, and it was painfully obvious that she was avoiding him. He had tried asking Pete and Lana if they could talk to her, maybe find out why Chloe was acting like this. Apparently when Chloe was still truth serum doused, she and Lana had an awkward conversion and Lana didn’t feel comfortable talking with her. Pete agreed, but all that Chloe told him was that she needed some space from Clark right now. None of this made any sense to Clark. He had forgiven her. He could have easily chosen to get angry for what she had done while infected with the truth serum, but chose friendship over anger. Now Chloe was acting like she didn’t agree with his decision; like she wanted him to not forgive her. Which made no sense at all.

  
Patience beginning to wear thin, Clark finally came up with some story about needing Chloe’s help with research. When she called to tell him that she got the information, Clark had insisted that he was really busy with chores and begged her to drop by and give it to him. She reluctantly agreed. 

  
He was up in the loft when she arrived, standing by the telescope he spent so much time using to spy on Lana when she lived next door. He rarely used it now. Chloe’s footsteps coming up the stairs was heard before her voice spoke, “Thought you had a lot of chores to get done.” The accusation in her voice was thick.

  
“Just finished up,” Clark responded, turning to face her. 

  
There she stood with a determinedly neutral expression on her face, but her eyes were accusatory. A manila envelope was in her hand. With prompt steps, Chloe strode forward, envelope outstretched towards him. “This is all I was able to dig up,” she said as he took the folder from her hand. Without even waiting for a thank you, Chloe turned her heels to make a hasty retreat.

  
“Chloe wait,” she halted in her tracks at his request but didn’t turn around to look at him. Figuring he didn’t have much time before she fled, Clark figured it was best not to beat around the bush. “Why are you avoiding me?” 

  
She stood there, frozen in place for several long moments. In fact this went on for so long Clark was about to speak again, when she finally replied. Her voice had strained stiffness that only comes from trying but quickly failing at hiding the emotion from your voice. “I… just think it's best if we see less of each other…” Her sentence trailed off with so much emotion, it was a wonder that she hadn’t burst into sobs by now.

  
Clark began taking very tentative steps toward her. She looked so much like a wounded animal right now, he feared moving too fast might spook her enough to flee again. He wasn’t going to let that happen, and if she did, he’d chase after her. Once he was close enough to stop her if she tried to run, Clark spoke in his most gentle voice. “Chloe…?” he saw her body stiffen but she didn't make any attempts to leave. “Chloe?” finally at long last she turned her head to look up at his face. The broken look in her eyes nearby broke his own heart. “Listen… if this is about what happened with the truth gas; I already told you that its fine. I forgive you.” 

  
If he thought saying that would make her feel better, he was sorely mistaken. She flinched violently, like he had just slapped her, and backed away. “That’s exactly the problem Clark! After everything I’ve done, how could you forgive me just like that?”

  
Clark was able to catch for just a moment, the moisture filling her eyes before she looked away. With some hesitancy, he reached a hand out to grab her arm and gently steer her body to face him again. She allowed the movement with no resistance but refused to look up at him, choosing to stare down at her shoes instead. “The same reason you forgave me for all the time’s I’ve hurt you,” he said sliding his hand down her arm so he could take her hand into his. She didn’t pull away.

  
“…Clark…” Chloe’s choked voice responded with obvious difficultly, still speaking to the floor. “It’s been a while since Metropolis happened, and I think my recent transgressions have long outweighed yours…”

  
Clark almost had to laugh at that, but held it in since he figured that it probably wouldn’t help their current situation. Instead he gave her a warm smile, even though she couldn’t see it. “I’ll admit you’ve made a lot of reckless decisions that have done more harm than good…” he reached his other hand out to grab hers so he held both her hands in his. “But it’s still not a good reason to withhold forgiveness from you.”

  
Chloe withdrew her hands from his hold, causing Clarks heart to give a small squeeze of pain. He resisted the desire to reach for them again, to hold on so tightly she wouldn’t be able to escape. That would not help here. He would never force anything on Chloe, including his affection. “You don’t understand Clark,” her voice cracked with thick emotions, and with a soft sniff she finally looked up into his face; a single tear running down her cheek. “I don’t’ deserve your forgiveness…”

  
For a moment, Clark took the time to gaze into Chloe’s eyes, both brimming with tears. He was finally able to see what was hidden behind the pain. Guilt. Not just any guilt, the kind of guilt that eats away at your soul; always coming back in your quiet moments to remind you of your failures. Clark knew at once there was no way she could ever move on from this until she released that guilt and choose to forgive herself. Self forgiveness was the main reason he stayed in Metropolis for three months, why he kept the Red-K on his finger even though it hurt him in the end. Because it was easier than living with your own guilt. Clark would not allow Chloe to go down that same destructive path. He would do whatever it took to save her from that fate. She had to understand. “Chloe!” he began in a firm voice, grabbing both her shoulders, just in case she decided to make a run for it. “You don’t have to keep punishing yourself. We’ve all made terrible mistakes at some point in our lives, mistakes so bad we don’t deserve forgiveness.” A swirl of emotion came over Clark as he thought about his parents lost pregnancy. No matter which way you turned it, that was his fault. “But that’s the definition of mercy. Being forgiven of something when you really don’t deserve it.”

  
Quite suddenly, Chloe jerked away from his touch, taking a step back as she was moved to anger. “Well I don’t need your mercy!” she turned her heels and began heading towards the loft steps.

  
“What do you want from me then!” Clarks own shout of anger halted her once again. “You want me to punish you!”

  
“Yes Clark!” Chloe swung her face around, eyes flashing with anger. “That’s exactly what I want! I want you to start acting like the human being you are! Get angry at me and give me exactly what I deserve!”

  
What she deserved? What was she expecting him to do? End their friendship with an angry rampage; that scenario would end up punishing both of them. The last thing Clark wanted was his friendship with Chloe to end. He had been trying to preserve the relationship by forgiving her. Though clearly he wasn’t about to do what Chloe wanted him to, it seemed that Clark still needed to do something. So he went with the first ludicrous idea that came to mind. “Ok fine…” Clark stepped over to the couch that lived in his loft and sat down. “Come over here, and I’ll spank you.” 

  
This was clearly not what Chloe was expecting, as a look of shock fell over her face but it was gone almost as quickly as it came. Replaced with an annoyed look that clearly stated she thought he was playing a tactless joke on her. “What?” Clark asked defensively. “You just said that you wanted me to punish you?” 

  
Chloe actually laughed at that. Shaking her head in disbelief. “I was thinking more along the lines of… giving me the silent treatment for a week, or… I don’t know sending me some angry emails!” 

  
“Both those options sound like a lot more time and effort than this. So come on,” Clark patted his lap like one might do when inviting a young child to sit with them. “I’d rather we get past this quickly.” Chloe was now staring at him like he had just told her about his Kryptonian heritage. Sensing that she still thought he might be joking with her Clark added. “I’m being serious right now Chloe. If you really want me to punish you, this is how it's going to go. I’m not going to force it on you, so take it or leave it.” 

  
Clark knew she had finally realized his suggestion was serious when he saw color flood into her cheeks and she looked away from him. He would not have been surprised if she left right then and there, and wouldn’t have blamed her either. It really was a ludicrous idea, but even after thinking it over for a bit, he still believed this was the best and quickest solution. She didn’t leave however, but was obviously torn. Stealing repeated glances at the staircase before looking back down at the floor in front of her. Several very tense but silent moments passed, and with each passing second Chloe became more and more upset. Her face clearly showed her waning attempts to not burst into tears, and soon her entire frame began to shake. At this point Clark realized that even though she wasn’t totally against the idea, she still might need a little help getting there.

  
Which he accepted. In all honesty, very few would ever willingly allow themselves to be spanked. So with a soft sigh, Clark stood up from where he sat on the couch and slowly approached the trembling blonde. She did not back away from him, as he half expected her to. But she stiffened with a sharp inhale of breath when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It was as if she had expected him to throw her over his knee and start then and there. 

  
He would have never thought to do that. He held too much respect to force this on her. If there was any resistance at all, Clark would not follow through with this. With a gentle squeeze of her shoulder blade, he led her back towards the couch. He felt no resistance but she did throw a terrified look towards the farmhouse. “Don’t worry,” Clark said, guessing her thoughts. “My parents left for Metropolis today, and won’t be back till tomorrow morning. No one’s here but us…” Before he could stop himself, Clark leaned down and kissed the top of Chloe’s blonde head. Just as they reached the edge of the couch, Clark felt Chloe begin to pull away from him. 

  
Unable to tell if this was brought out by fear or resistance Clark chose to keep her in a firm hold, and look down at her face. “Chloe…” he started firmly. “I promise I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.” Her tenseness eased somewhat with obvious relief, and her eyes told how she still wasn’t sure if he really wanted to do this.

  
Wanting to give her more time to process, Clark gently eased them both down to sit on the couch, and wrapped her petite frame in a tight but gentle embrace. He really didn’t have a firm idea what exactly was going on inside Chloe’s head, but this move seemed to be exactly what she needed. Almost at once, she tucked her feet up onto the couch so they rested under her and pressed deeper into his body, allowing the waterworks to flow, sobbing openly into his chest. Clark was at a loss on how to proceed. Was this all she needed right now? Just have a good cry and then move on? Her next words were answer enough. “H-How do you n-not hate me Clark…?” she said with stagnant breath. “Because I s-sure hate myself.” 

  
This was followed by an even harsher reign of sobs, peaking close to wails. This was not enough, that much Clark was sure. More needed to happen, and it was best to let it happen tonight. Things would only get worse the longer it dragged. He reached a hand around to cup her wet cheek, and gazed into her tear swimming eyes. Speaking softly, “I’m going to make things better Chloe…”

  
Chloe gazed back at him, eyes filled with complete and utter trust. It was time. Sliding both hands down toward her waist. Clark very gently began pulling her body across his lap, ready to stop if he felt any resistance. Though she tensed unexpectedly, there was no resistance. The very fact that she wasn’t resisting spoke how Chloe knew just as much as Clark did how much she needed this. Even after she was positioned over his lap a slight tremble accompanied the stiffness of her body. She was clearly terrified despite her willing consent, and Clark once again almost backed peddled. He just didn’t feel right doing this when she seemed so uneasy about it. Her head rested against the couch cushion, face hiding in the crook of her elbow, while her legs stubbornly refused to uncurl away from her body. “Chloe please relax,” he said gently, rubbing a hand against her shoulder blade, fingers gently massaging her tense muscles. “I’m not promising that it won’t hurt, but you know I’d never do anything to harm you.” 

  
A breathy sob was quickly released into the cushion, and though the tenseness never her body the tremble of her frame eased a little. “O-Ok…” she spoke, voice so thick with emotion that Clark almost couldn’t understand her. 

  
It then became apparent, that Clark had already gone too far into this, and stopping now wouldn’t be fair to Chloe. So with a final breath to mentally prepare himself for the ordeal to follow, Clark shifted her body a little more so her backside was more center on his lap. Luckily the skirt she wore seemed thin enough for Clark to deem baring her unnecessary, not that he would have thought differently even if she was wearing thick jeans. That seemed highly inappropriate and would only embarrass her unnecessarily. Having stalled long enough, Clark finally raised a hand up and brought it quickly down on Chloe’s overturned rear with a loud smack!

  
Her whole body gave a violent flinch at the contact, followed by a gasp from her lips. This reaction caused uncertain fear to seize his chest. Had be applied too much force? Clark knew that he could easily knock someone out just by tapping their head, but has been living with the strength long enough he figured he had a pretty good handle on it. Just to test it out, he landed another smack with the same strength to see if he got the same reaction. She released a pained whimper but did not flinch this time around, concluding to Clark what he had suspected. That she had just been caught off guard by the anticipation, and he wasn’t causing bodily injury. He silently continued, giving her a half dozen swats, while his heartstrings tugged by each whimper reaching closer to a sob. By the time he had reached a dozen smacks, Chloe’s cries had reached a pitch that made him wonder if maybe he was possibly going too hard on her. Maybe his decision not to spank her bare was a mistake? At least he’d be able to see the damage he was causing.

  
After a brief debate in his mind, Clark figured it was best to just do a quick x-ray to check. Yes, it was a bit uncomfortable for him, but at least he was still saving her from embarrassment. His quick assessment checked out, as her bottom cheeks were only just showing a hint of rosiness, so he felt it was safe to continue. 

  
Even though Clark was now at ease that he wasn’t hurting his friend, he was starting to grow concerned at her body's refusal to untense. Her frame was just as curled and stiff as it had been when he started. Clearly a lot of thoughts and emotions were swirling through Chloe, and ever the stubborn one, she refused to release any of it. Even while her backside got a good thrashing, she refused to cave. He recalled similar instances happening to him while growing up. Choosing to bottle up his anger, frustration, sadness, hurt, guilt, whatever emotion he wanted to keep inside him at that particular time. All that bottling up did was cause more harm to himself and the people around him. Each time it happened, the only thing had popped the cap off was his mom or dad forcing him to talk about what he was feeling. The same was probably true for Chloe, which meant he needed to get her to talk.

  
Pausing his assault of swats, Clark placed a gentle hand on her back which was trembling with repressed sobs. “Chloe…” he waited a moment to make sure she was listening to him before continuing. “I want you to tell me all the recent mistakes you’ve made.” 

  
Chloe’s whole body froze in place at hearing the order. The wimping sobs strangling past her lips stopped with a sudden intake of breath. She had gone so silent and still, Clark could have thought she’d been turned into stone. But knowing better, he gave her a swat with a little extra bite to help encourage her. She flinched just as bad as she had after his first smack, but Clark knew this time around it was more from surprise than pain. “I…” she attempted to start but swell of emotions caused the words to lock in her throat. Clark gave her bottom another smack, not quite as hard as the last one but enough to cause a whimper to escape. “I agreed to help Lionel investigate you…” she trailed off with a round of sobs so heart wrenching it almost moved Clark to tears himself.  
Blinking them away, Clark followed the confession with five firm smacks to Chloe’s backside that she cried out for each one. “What else?” he asked knowing there was a lot more than that eating her alive.

  
Luckily she didn’t need any extra encouragement to continue. “I passed a story along to my friend at the Daily Planet, and it got him killed…” Clark hardly felt like that was her fault, but gave her five more hits for it anyways. He was doing this to relieve her guilt more than anything else. “I broke into the Luthorcorp Plant and got infected by that damn truth gas!” There was a nip in her voice with that confession, which told Clark she felt more than just guilt for that incident. He must be getting into the territory of why she was hating herself.

  
Yes choosing to steal someone’s security badge to break into a dangerous experimental Luthorcorp facility was most definitely her fault, and it almost got her killed. He almost didn’t feel bad about the next five swats he gave her, even with her tearful whimpers with each one. “I destroyed the lives of Mrs. Taylor and William…” he gave her five more. Clark was kind of on the fence with that one. Yes indirectly she’s the reason Mrs. Taylor is now in jail and William’s now getting treatment in Belle Reve. The but the truth serum had affected her personality somewhat, cause her to feel no regret or guilt for her actions. “I… I was…” it was beginning to get difficult for her to continue talking through her sobs. Clark couldn’t believe her body was still as tense as it had been they started. “I was g-going to fo-rce your parents to… to tell me what you’ve been hiding…” 

  
Chloe’s free hand snaked its ways through her hair at this point, and her fingers wrapped around a clump of hair and squeezed until her knuckles turned white. She looked like a woman about to shatter; but Clark’s instincts told him that stopping now would only undo all the progress he’s made so far. So he landed five more hits to her rear. “Is that it?” she seemed to have covered everything that Clark was at least aware of. 

  
But she didn’t respond to her question, but continued to sob and tremble uncontrollably over his lap. There had to be more. Clark reached a hand towards her face to brush away the bangs, now damp from her tears, away from where her eyes peeked out. “What is it Chloe?” 

  
She sniffed loudly. “If I hadn’t made that deal with Lionel… my dad would still have his job…”

  
They had come full circle. It all came back to her deal with Lionel. The big mistake she made in a moment of weakness. That was what was eating her alive right now. This is what she refused to forgive herself for. Her decision not only hurt Clark, but also brought repercussions to both herself and her father. With a soft sigh, Clark chose his next words carefully. “Chloe… we already talked about how I was willing to give you a second chance… I think it’s time for you to give yourself a second chance.” 

  
Chloe only blinked her damp eyelashes in response, then hid her face back in the crook of her elbow. Clark did another quick x-ray to see how her skin was fairing against his assault. Her bottom had turned a deep red by this point, and he knew that he couldn't in good conscious continue for much longer. But she was still stubbornly refusing to release her guilt. Come on Chloe! Just let it go! He thought desperately. Elevating one of his knees slightly, Clark began focusing his smacks on her upper thighs he’d previously been neglecting up until now. Chloe gasped at the sudden assault on her more tender flesh, but Clark did not let up; hoping this might bring her over the edge. “You know how much I love you Chloe,” Clark said surprising himself by the amount of emotion in his words. “Please let this go.” 

  
It took less than five seconds before she released it all. Clark could feel every muscle in her body relax into the couch and his body, as long drawn out wails fell from her lips. This is what he had been waiting for, and Clark was unable to stop his own sigh of relief. He gave a half dozen more swats that really had no power to it, before stopping all together. 

  
Clark’s heart gave a tight squeeze as he gazed down at Chloe, who was a piping hot mess sobbing out her hearts contents into the couch. With gentle hands he grabbed both her shoulders in an effort to help her sit up again. Though it was soon clear that she did not need the extra help. The second he began pulling at her body she pushed both of her palms against the couch and pushed herself back into a seated position next to him. Clearly eager to get out of that demeaning position but still wanting to make sure that Clark was done before doing so.

  
It was quite sad watching Chloe’s attempt at restoring some of her dignity. With a deep shuddering breath, she wiped furiously at her eyes, wincing slightly as she rubbed a hand over her backside. When she began to get up from the couch, Clark finally grabbed her by the arm, “Oh no you don’t,” he spoke in an almost teasing voice. “I never said we were done.” 

  
A flicker of fear passed through Chloe’s still moistened eyes; but Clark did not give her the chance to ponder what he meant before gathering her upper body into his arms and pressing her into his chest. The gesture instantly caused her sobs to renew, and she began apologizing profusely into his shirt. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry Clark!” 

  
Clark gently shushed her words, kissing her forehead, and wiping away the tears from her flushed cheeks. All the while gently rocking her trembling form as one might rock a child to sleep. “It’s ok… shh… shh. You have a clean slate now… we can start over…”

  
It was quite some time before her cries slowed down. In fact it was a surprise to Clark when he looked down at Chloe’s face and saw that she was asleep, breath still hitching and cheeks still brimming wet with tears. Not about to disturb her, Clark glanced over the back of the couch and reached for the blanket that was stored behind it. Being careful not to wake his sleeping friend, Clark unfolded the blanket, laid it over her petite from, and settled himself back into the couch. Content to stay here as long as needed. 

  
******

  
Clark did not even realize that he had fallen asleep, till he was waking up with something heavy but warm against his chest. He opened his eyes to find that Chloe was still fast sleep on his chest, one hand gripping his red flannel. The dried tear tracks on the cheek not pressed against his shirt, was the only reminder of the tears she had shed just the night before. With a smile, Clark tilted his head down to kiss the top of her head, then scooched higher up on the couch. Chloe moaned softly in her sleep, shifting her body a little but remained sleeping. He shifted the blanket higher up on her shoulders, and looked out the barn window at the rising sun just peeking out from over the horizon. As he sat there watching the sun slowly rise, Clark couldn’t help but think how it had never before looked so bright.

  
End 


End file.
